Tanglewood Black Police Blue Sequel
by alekat9395
Summary: Danny finds himself the suspect in a murder. Based on the events of the episode 'Tanglewood' with some new original characters that I created.
1. Chapter 1

Tanglewood Black Police Blue

Written by Alekat

Rating: T

Pairing: Danny/OC

Disclaimer: I do not own these characters but I did take some creative liberty with them and I created a few new characters of my own.

Spoilers: Tanglewood 

Summary: It's a continuation of the ep.

Author's Note: This fan fic has been posted to the CSI NY Fan Fic yahoo group so I'm sorry if you receive it twice. A friend told me I should post my earlier stories here so I'm doing that to share with those of you who want to read. I have never been to NYC so my apologies if I got the names of anything wrong; it was not my intent. There are several things inside the story that I did extensive research on but if I happened to mix anything up please forgive me. I'm not a police officer but I did run this story by my friend who is a Chief of Police. He thought I did okay with the police stuff so take it easy on my first writing of CSI NY. Thank you to my friend and beta, Miss Nit Picky, for an exceptional job at cleaning up my mess that I like to call writing…

…………..

Aiden Burn walked casually down the labyrinth of glass hallways that led through the Crime Lab in the downtown police headquarters building. She had time this morning for a leisurely walk to the labs. Usually she was strolling in at the last second but this morning she was in an unusually good mood and somewhat on time for work, for a change.

She guessed it had something to do with the birds chirping and the sun shining down on the city this beautiful spring morning. She sighed and continued her walk through the station house.

As she made her way toward the locker room she noticed the somber faces of her co-workers and wondered what the problem was. She had not heard any news this morning so she wondered by all the long faces she was seeing if an officer had been killed. She said a silent prayer that that was not the case.

Aiden saw Stella Bonasera walk out of Mac's office and called out to her.

Stella turned and looked at Aiden, "Aiden," Stella paused as if Aiden had disturbed her train of thought then said, distractedly, "Good morning."

Aiden noticed that Bonasera's usually cheery greeting was more like a flat monotone. "What's with all the long faces around here this morning?"

Before Stella could answer Aiden's question, Mac stormed out of his office and said, gruffly, "Let's go ladies. We're on the investigation."

Stella and Aiden did not question Mac but simply followed. The curiosity that allowed her to be a good crime scene investigator caused Aiden to want to know what was going on so she asked Stella, "What investigation?"

Stella shook her head as they followed Mac and said, "There's been a murder in Danny's apartment."

"Danny's apartment!" Aiden's voice rose just an octave too high for the calm façade she was exhibiting. "Is Danny okay? Who called it in?"

"He's okay, he made the call. Come on, I'll explain it in the car." Stella told her as they rushed to catch up with Mac who had already disappeared out of the building.

………….

The crime scene tape was lifted for the three investigators as they made their way through a crowd of on-lookers and reporters from several local newspapers as well as a couple of TV cameras from the local new stations.

"Detective Taylor," A reporter called out as they made their way through the crowd, "Just one question. Can you tell us if the reports are true that one of your CSIs has been arrested for murder?"

Mac held his head high and kept walking ignoring the reporters firing questions at his retreating back. Aiden, however, did not as one reporter asked, "Is Danny Messer really a member of the Tanglewood Boys? How could NYPD let a gang member become an officer? I say we should call for an investigation into all his cases."

Aiden stopped in her tracks, a spring breeze blowing her hair across her face making her all the angrier. She swiped her hair back behind her ears and took two steps to her right and leaned close to the reporter who had asked the offending question causing him to bristle and hold his ground. Her fists closed at her sides as she ground out through clenched teeth, "Danny Messer has one of the cleanest and clearest arrest records on the force. Why don't you go talk trash about the real criminals?"

Stella caught Aiden by the upper arm and pulled her toward the crime scene, giving the offending reporter a chilly look that said he should clear out or face the wrath of the entire NYPD, "Come on Aiden. We've got work to do if we're going to clear Danny's name."

The reporter held his hands up in defense of the look and mumbled something incoherent about New York City's finest as the pair headed inside the brownstone apartment building that was surrounded by yellow crime scene tape. They found Mac standing stock still in the middle of the foyer next to Detective Don Flack. Flack was reading his notes to Mac who was intently studying the body of a woman laying across a once white sofa that was now forever stained red from the blood that had seeped into the fabric. The sofa was in the living room just off the foyer to the left as they walked in and both women stopped in their tracks when they saw the victim.

In weeks to come, the four would come to remember the sight of that woman laid at a slanted angle across the arm and back of the sofa as if she had fallen backward and Danny walking into view from behind the sofa with his hands cuffed behind him and what looked like a bloody handprint across the front of his white tank tee shirt. He was wearing his glasses but his spiked hair told his friends that he had just gotten out of bed a short time ago. Each would have their own thoughts of whether he did it or not but those thoughts would be kept to themselves never to be given a breath of air.

Danny watched the looks of shocked disbelief and disappointment spread over his friends' faces. The four looking at him were those whose opinions meant the most. He didn't know how he would ever make it through this if they didn't believe in him. If they thought he really did this. As the officer led him past them, he stopped next to Mac and said quietly in a pleading tone, "Mac, You have to believe me when I say I didn't do it. I woke up and found her. I called it in Mac. I didn't touch anything. I haven't even checked her pulse."

Mac looked at the victim then back down at his subordinate, bare footed looking like he had just spent a night in the drunk tank since his five o'clock shadow was more like a couple of days shadow. "Danny, the evidence will tell the tale." Danny visibly shivered at the cool tone in Mac's voice.

"Mac, I swear I didn't do it." Danny told him once again then looked at Stella and Aiden, "I didn't do it. Stella, Aiden, you have to believe me." Both women wanted to believe him with all that they were but it was hard to look at him and see the blood and the victim and not think that maybe just maybe they did not know as much about their co-worker as they thought they did.

The officer pulled Danny to follow him but Mac spoke stopping them, "Officer, before you take him away, we need to process the scene and Officer Messer is wearing part of the scene."

Officer Mike Hannigan did not want to have to arrest a fellow officer but had a job to do, "Sir, he needs to be taken to Central Booking."

Flack stepped close to the officer and said, "I'll take it from here Officer Hannigan. I'll be responsible for the prisoner. Has he been read his rights?"

"Yes sir," Officer Hannigan told Flack and relinquished his hold on Danny's bare upper arm.

"Officer Hannigan," Flack pulled the officer to the side and said, "You just made a rookie mistake."

"Mistake, sir?" Hannigan questioned, a ripple of fear coursed through his entire body as Detective Flack leveled a cold blue steel gaze on him.

"It's a courtesy to cuff a senior officer or an official in the front so that they may cover the cuffs with a jacket. Since Officer Messer called the crime in, it can be assumed that he did not pose a threat and was willing to go peacefully." Flack was leaning close to the other officer speaking in a near whisper so the reprimand could be kept between the two of them. Flack had been a rookie once still wet behind the ears when he got his first DOA call. He remembered how it felt to be first on the scene.

Danny was subdued and quiet as the officer and detective discussed his situation. He kept his head down and wished that he could start this day over again.

Flack turned to Mac and said, "Okay, he's all yours."


	2. Chapter 2

Mac nodded and looked from Flack to Danny and said, "Aiden, take Danny into the other room and process him from head to toe. Bag those clothes and anything else that might be of interest to us."

Aiden nodded and grabbed her tool kit that she had put on the floor earlier and said, "Flack, can you accompany us to another room?"

Flack removed Danny's cuffs and looked him in the eye, a slight smile tugging the corner of his mouth, "You're not gonna run are you?"

"Smart ass," Danny mumbled under his breath as Aiden pulled him away from Flack. She led Danny to the nearest empty room, which happened to be the bedroom. She closed the door behind Danny and Flack, who stood to the side of the closed door, and then she turned to survey the room.

She looked at the Queen sized bed that sat just behind Danny to his right. It had the look of an obvious night of rolling in tangled sheets. The blanket was lying in a heap partly in the floor and on the foot of the bed while the top sheet was twisted and turned in the center of the bed. One pillow was leaned against the head of the bed while the other was hanging precariously on the edge of the side farthest away from them. Danny was silent while he watched her eyes move from object to object processing what she saw. He had worked enough crime scenes with her to know just what she was thinking.

Aiden's eyes moved from the bed to the chair next to the window directly opposite the door and she saw that a very elegant, and expensive black dress was tossed across the back of the chair and a man's suit jacket was lying across the chair arm. She looked at Danny and mentally matched the dark color and wool fabric of the suit jacket with the dress wool slacks that he was now wearing.

Her thoughts drifted for a moment to the body in the other room and she put two and two together and realized that the victim was wearing Danny's white dress shirt; probably the same one that he wore yesterday while they processed the Perez scene. Danny cleared his throat to bring her attention back to the room. "Aiden," He began but she held up her hand to stop him.

"Danny, let's don't do this." She leaned over and placed her toolbox that she had been holding down on the floor and pulled out her camera. "I need to take photos."

He reached out to touch her shoulder but she jerked around slightly to detract his touch, "You know the drill Danny, so let's just get this over with. Okay?"

It very nearly tore his heart out to hear the sadness in her voice, the pain. He was the cause of it all. Aiden had been a good friend to him and they were great partners. Mac had put them together a lot lately as both were up for promotions soon and they needed field experience without Mac and Stella's supervision. It had been a way for them to find their bearings together and they were making a pretty good team.

Danny sighed and stood with his hands down at his sides giving her the best angles for her snapshots, then spoke softly in answer to her plea, "I'm sorry that you have to do this, Aiden."

"Better me than someone you don't know." She snapped photos one after another and when she walked around to his right side and saw the tattoo peeking out from under the tank top, she lowered the camera and reached out tentatively and touched it brushing her fingertips over the letters ever so softly. "I had no idea you had this."

He jerked slightly at her touch and mumbled noncommittally, "It wasn't my proudest moment. I'm just glad it's over."

Moving the edge of the tank tee shirt aside to inspect the tattoo closer she noticed the red puffiness around a single date below the "In Date" and touched the ink that looked newer than the rest of the tattoo. As she rubbed the new date, he flinched, "Ouch." He reached over his shoulder and rubbed his hand over the tattoo and then looked behind him to the dresser mirror trying to see his upper right shoulder. "Hey, this date is new. Aiden, I didn't have this put on my tattoo." Flack was instantly at their side looking at the tattoo as well then writing it down in his notebook.

"What?" She asked confusion etched across her dark brows watching Danny rub his hand over the tattoo causing it to begin to bleed where the newest ink had been embedded into the skin.

"I mean, I didn't have this date added on my tat." He pointed to the offending point in the tattoo. "I don't remember getting it." He paced around the room and stopped at the dresser opposite the bed closer now to the mirror and looked over his shoulder at the reflection of the tattoo in the mirror then rubbed his hand absently across the newest date on his tattoo that read 03/03/05 even though it was reversed in the mirror. Flack and Aiden both stood behind him looking at the same image in the mirror.

"What the hell did you do last night?" She asked as she shook her head in disbelief, "Danny, how could you have gotten new ink without knowing about it?"

"I don't. I couldn't. I just went out with Andrea." Shifting from foot to foot, he rubbed his forehead with his thumb and forefinger on his left hand trying to stave off the migraine that he could feel building. He pushed his glasses up and run his hand through his unruly hair, his frustration beginning to get the best of him, he sighed and continued, "It was her sister's birthday. We went to The Carlyle."

"Okay, look, who is Andrea?" Aiden asked as she began taking pictures again while Flack took notes as Danny answered Aiden's questions.

While Danny talked she processed his clothes for fibers and lifted some hairs from the back of his shirt.

"Andrea is, uh, was Senator John Cohen's daughter. She and I have been dating off and on for almost a year."

"Dating? Humm?" Aiden questioned and looked up at him from where she was squatted next to the tool kit, a wry grin on her face.

"I said off and on." He sniffed and looked at her sheepishly, "She works and lives in DC and we get together when she's going to be in town. Kerri, her sister, turned twenty one yesterday and her parents threw her a huge party at The Carlyle."

"Wow, ritzy, and to think I didn't even know my partner was dating a Senator's daughter, hmm." Aiden stopped her photographing and handed Danny a large paper bag then said, "Here, put those clothes in this and after you get dressed, meet me out in the foyer."

"Okay," Danny took the proffered bag and turned to go into the bathroom then stopped and looked back, "Aiden?"

She looked back from the door and whispered, "Yeah."

"Thanks," He hesitated for a moment then looked down at the floor then back up at her with his head tilted to the right, a shy smile in place, "For everything."

She knew at that moment that he didn't do it and would have to help him prove it, some how, some way, "You bet, partner."

He grinned and turned away with Flack in tow, leaving her to stand alone thinking about the turn of events today. Her partner was being accused of murder and the odds were not in his favor if he was innocent which she believed to be the case.


	3. Chapter 3

Mac and Stella took a cursory look at the scene while they waited for the medical examiner, Dr. Sheldon Hawkes to arrive. Mac knelt close to the body and looked at the victim. Her eyes were open revealing nothing but a vacant lifeless stare from once hazel eyes and the way her mouth was open just a little bit suggested that she might have been screaming or calling for help.

Stella snapped photos all around the room and stopped when she came to a work desk beneath a window facing out onto the street. She looked out the window and saw the CSI SUV, the Medical Examiner's van and across the street she saw four men standing next to a black Cadillac Escalade Sport Utility Truck. Her memory of a confrontation she, Mac and Flack had with these same four men a few months back stopped her in her tracks. She noticed that they were watching the happenings outside with rapt attention so she flipped the flash off her digital camera and held it up to her eyes. She pulled the zoom in on the camera and brought the men up closer. When she did she snapped the photo then dropped the camera and said, "Hey Mac?"

"Yeah Stella." He looked up from his inspection of the body.

"I've got something you might be interested in seeing. Look out the window over there." She continued to look around on the desk occasionally glancing up to see that the four men were still in the same position.

He walked around the coffee table to the nearest window and looked out. "What am I looking for?"

"Black Escalade across the street." She looked down quickly as one of the men in question noticed her standing in the window. Knowing she had been spotted she moved on to the next object which was the fireplace and mantle. She surveyed the pictures across the mantle. There was one of Danny swinging a baseball bat, probably from his youth because he looked much younger in the photo. Then there was a frame holding a picture of a newborn baby, Danny's niece. Stella remembered him talking about the new addition to the family a few months back. Another one showed Danny and the victim sharing an intimate moment on a dance floor. The couple in the picture was wrapped in each other's arms staring into each other's eyes. To an onlooker, the photographer, it seemed too private a moment to intrude even to take a picture.

"Looks like our old friend, Sonny Sassone and his gang." Mac observed the men getting into the Escalade and driving off down the street after the driver tipped a short salute toward Mac to let the detective know that he had seen him.

Stella stopped at the bookshelf next to the fireplace and looked at a cigarette butt that had been put out in a glass of wine sitting on the shelf. "Hey Mac, looks like someone had a drink here."

Mac walked around the sofa and stopped next to the bookshelf. "I didn't know Danny smoked."

"I don't." Danny spoke up from the doorway leading into the living room from the foyer. Aiden was standing next to him.

"So, did the victim smoke?" Mac asked as he watched Stella pour the contents of the wine glass into a container and seal it then put the wine glass into a plastic bag and seal it.

"No, but Andrea did have a glass of wine before we went to bed last night. I had Scotch but I don't see my glass. I remember setting it down, no wait I was going to set it down and I tripped or something. I remember thinking I had not had that much to drink." He put his hand back up to his head again trying to hold off that pesky migraine but it seemed to want to happen anyway. He felt dizzy and beside him Aiden reached out to steady him.

"Danny?" Aiden's voice quavered as she tried to steady Danny just before he began to slide down the door facing. "Mac?" Aiden cried out as she knelt next to Danny holding his head in her hands then placing it gently in her lap as she fell to her knees with him.

Mac and Stella rushed across the room but Dr. Hawkes, who had just walked into the foyer behind Danny and Aiden, got to them first. Aiden helped Dr. Hawkes lay Danny gently on the floor. Dr. Hawkes pulled a small penlight out of his jacket pocket, pulled Danny's glasses off and handed them to Aiden then raised Danny's eyelids checking for pupil dilation. "His pupils are equal and responsive."

"What do you think Doc?" Mac asked.

"Not sure, what did he say to you before he collapsed?" Dr. Hawkes looked to Aiden.

She shook her head side to side slowly trying to recall the last few moments, "He didn't say anything. He just rubbed his forehead and swayed a bit. I tried to steady him but he started to fall so I helped him to the floor." The worry creased her brow and Mac patted her on the arm to give her the much-needed silent support of a friend.

Danny jerked his hand up to his head and tried to rise up but Dr. Hawkes stopped him, "Settle down there. You passed out. Do you know who you are?"

Danny nodded, "I'm the one whose gonna barf on you if you don't let me up."

Hawkes and Mac helped him to sit up while Stella handed him a specimen jar that she had pulled from her kit just in case he got sick. The investigator in her knew they would need a sample of his stomach contents and if he were going to be sick anyway then it would be easiest that way. It wasn't long before he obliged and Aiden rushed out to the bathroom and came back with a wet cloth for him.

"Danny, I want you to go to the hospital. We need to check your blood and do a few more tests." Mac told him then asked, "How much did you have to drink last night?"

With help from Mac and Dr. Hawkes, Danny leaned back against the wall next to the door and closed his eyes to ward off the pain searing through his brain, "At the party, everyone had champagne but I only had a sip or two then I had a couple of Scotch on the Rocks and when we got here Andrea had the wine and I had another Scotch. I wasn't drunk, Mac."

"I believe you, Danny." Mac looked to Stella and said, "Stella why don't you go with Danny to the hospital?" Then he looked at Danny, "What can you tell me about the victim?"

"Her name is Andrea Cohen. She lives in Washington DC and we've been dating off and on for a couple of years." Danny opened his eyes then closed them again when he realized Dr. Hawkes was prepping Andrea's body for transport.

"You mean Senator Cohen's daughter?" Stella asked the shock evident in her voice. She had been under the impression that Danny did his dating from a less ritzy crowd.

"Yes." Danny leaned his head forward and down while Aiden kept the cloth pressed on the back of his neck.

Mack grunted, a fleeting thought passing through his mind that this might be the end of Danny's career and his freedom, then said, "Aiden, you and I are going to finish processing the scene then you can take Danny's clothes back to the lab along with the contents of the wine glass and see what you can get off that cigarette."

Aiden nodded and took Danny's hand and put it on the cloth on the back of his neck. "Will do."

"I'll drive Danny to the hospital then we'll meet you back at the lab." Stella told Mac.

"Have Flack drive you so that the chain of custody isn't compromised while Danny's being checked out. Flack is in charge of him."

"Okay." She helped Danny to stand and they walked slowly toward the front door where Flack was talking to one of the patrolmen.

"Flack, we need to take Danny to the hospital for some tests before we head down to the labs." Stella and Danny stopped next to Flack.

"Okay, look Danny I have to put the cuffs back on, okay." Flack hated to have to do this but the situation was just too volatile with the press and the victim being Senator Cohen's daughter. They didn't want to run the risk of impropriety. Danny's life might well depend on how they did their jobs from here on out.

"I understand. Just get them on and let's go." Danny told his sometimes-drinking buddy as he held out his hands in front of his body. When Flack slipped the cuffs in place as loosely as possible, Stella dropped one of Danny's jackets that were hanging on the rack next to the door over his hands to hide the cuffs.

Flack and two more officers plowed through the crowd of reporters and onlookers as Stella helped Danny to the car. He tried as best he could to hold his head up high but the splitting headache coupled with the bright March sun was almost more than he could handle in his present condition.


	4. Chapter 4

As Mac watched Flack's unmarked black sedan drive away his cell phone began ringing. He unsnapped it from his belt and flipped it open not checking the id. "DA Hollings, I was waiting for your call."

Aiden continued to process the crime scene after Dr. Hawkes removed the body. She was looking over the living room one last time when she noticed something shiny in the ashes in the fireplace. She walked across the room to the fireplace and knelt in front. Her left hand was still grasping her tool kit on the floor next to her so she raised her pocket-sized flashlight and shone the beam into the ashes. She opened her tool kit and pulled on an extra set of white latex gloves for an added measure of protection then reached into the cold ashes and pulled out a large section of a broken glass. The ashes stuck to the glass as if there had been liquid in the glass when it hit. She fished around for several minutes before she found the last of the broken glass. She bagged it and sealed the bag with red tape that she wrote the time and date on. In her mind she kept repeating the words, "Be Thorough." She didn't want Danny going to prison for a mistake she had made.

From her spot next to the door, Stella watched the doctor as he did a cursory exam taking Danny's vitals, blood pressure, temperature the usual stuff. She already had a blood sample and a urine sample sealed and ready for transport with them back to the lab along with the sample of stomach contents that she got from Danny back at his apartment.

She could not bring herself to look away as the doctor checked Danny for any abrasions or other oddities. She watched as a lab technician entered the room and made quick work of taking another blood sample from Danny. The doctor quietly issued orders to the nurse and the lab tech; before instructing Danny to lie back and close his eyes. When he was satisfied that his patient was comfortable the doctor turned to the two officers inside the room.

Stella had been standing back against the wall next to Flack until the doctor turned to face her. She motioned for the doctor to join her outside while Flack kept watch over their friend.

"So, doctor what did you find?" Stella asked, coming quickly to the point.

Dr. Fred Wyman smiled at the concern he heard in the detective's voice. "I'm Dr. Wyman, from all appearances Officer Messer appears to have been given flunitrazepam or Rohypnol."

"The date rape drug?" Stella questioned a puzzled frown on her face. Her first thought was could Danny and Andrea have been experimenting with the drugs? She knew better than that so her next thought was who would want to drug Danny and frame him for murder.

"Yes." The doctor explained his findings; "I've seen this quite a bit lately in a lot of club age patients. He's somewhat older but it's not unheard of. I won't know how high the levels are until the tox screen returns. I've ordered a CBC, chem. 7, a complete toxicological work up, a urinalysis as well as an EKG. His pulse was slower than a normal healthy male of his age range so I want to be certain that no permanent damage has been inflicted."

"I'll need copies of all those results." Stella told him then asked,

"How soon can he leave?"

"Of course." Dr. Wyman nodded then looked around at his patient and said, "I've started Officer Messer on a normal course of reversal medications that also include an injection of morphine to combat the headache mixed with phenergran to alleviate the nausea. If the tests results do reveal Rohypnol the medication that I have started him on should help reduce the effects of the drug and his system should be completely clean in seventy-two hours. When he wakes up in a few hours if he is feeling better and the headache is gone then I will release him."

"Thank you doctor." Stella joined Flack in the room with Danny who was now sleeping soundly.


	5. Chapter 5

Mac was in the lab going over the clothes taken from Danny's apartment as well as the shirt the victim was wearing when the lab doors swung open and the District Attorney accompanied by Senator John Cohen and his entourage of a half dozen flooded Mac's lab.

"Gentlemen, ladies, DA Hollings, you'll have to vacate this lab, immediately." Mac told them all calmly, quietly.

"Detective Taylor," DA Hollings began then hesitated and began again on a more personal level, "Mac, the senator would like to see his daughter's body."

"Senator Cohen, I will be glad to take you to the viewing room. You can identify your daughter's body there." Mac ushered the group out of the lab tossing a look over his shoulder to Aiden who had also been working in the lab for her to secure the evidence.

Aiden watched the entourage leave behind Mac and the Senator for a moment. She heard a beeping sound coming from the Mass Spectrometer behind her alerting her that her toxicology analysis report on the substance from the broken glass she found in the fireplace was finished.

The paper lying in the printer tray was colored with spiked lines of red, blue, black and green. She picked the paper up and began reading out loud to the empty room, "7-aminoflunitrazepam and N desmethylflunitrazepam, Rohypnol and gammahydroxybutyrate, GHB, barley grain, sugar cane, alcohol. Hummm?"

"You found traces of Rohypnol and GHB?" Stella asked from her position in the doorway where she had been listening to Aiden read the results out loud.

Aiden turned around and faced Stella, "Both."

"So that explains why Danny remembers falling but nothing else." Stella began then stopped to process her thoughts letting Aiden continue.

"And why he doesn't remember anything after the fall. The GHB reacts almost instantly…" Aiden continued looking at the page with the results while Stella picked up the glass that Aiden had been processing.

"While the Rohypnol lasts longer so if he was dosed with both drugs, he's lucky he awoke at all." Stella finished Aiden's thought as she placed the shards of glass on the light table and began looking at them with the light from the surface below shining through them.

"It would also explain the dizziness, the black out, and the nausea." Aiden continued looking at the paper while Stella found some Magnetic Blitz-Red fingerprint powder and a UV-Light. She pulled her red tinted viewing goggles from her lab coat pocket and sprinkled the powder on the larger of the glass shards.

Aiden joined her at the light table and found a pair of red tinted viewing goggles as well. The pair watched through their goggles as Stella dusted the glass shards with the fingerprint powder. When it was clear there was a print on the glass, Aiden reached behind them and grabbed a camera on the tripod and sat it over the glass shards. Stella centered the shard beneath the camera lens and snapped two quick shots of the emerging print. She slipped the card from the digital camera and both women headed for the A/V lab to run the print through all the accessible databases available to the New York Crime Lab.


	6. Chapter 6

Mac escorted the Senator's entourage into the holding room outside the morgue and said, "Please wait here Senator, I'll see if the ME is ready for us."

Senator John Cohen was not a patient man, "I do not want to wait, Detective Taylor, I want to see my daughter and I don't want to see her through a glass."

"Sir, that's not a good idea." Mac tried to head the man off. Most relatives thought they wanted to see their loved one in the flesh but it very rarely turned out to be the way they expected.

"I don't care." The Senator pushed past Mac but was stopped just outside the door by Dr. Hawkes who was walking through the doors.

"Excuse me." Dr. Hawkes said as he and the senator almost collided.

Mac stepped between the senator and the door and said, "Senator if you're sure you want to do this, I'll take you inside."

"I'm sure." The senator nodded.

"Very well," Mac sighed and asked, "Dr. Hawkes, can the senator view his daughter to make a positive identification."

"Yes." Dr. Hawkes led the way back into the morgue and the senator followed he and Mac.

Mac stood close by the senator while Dr. Hawkes prepared to pull the sheet draped over Andrea Cohen's body away from her face so that the senator could see. The senator nodded when he was ready and Dr. Hawkes lifted the sheet just enough so that the cold expressionless face was showing. Drawing a deep ragged breath, the senator reached out and gently brushed his thumb across his daughter's cheek then stepped back and looked to Mac, "Is my information correct that Danny Messer is one of your officers?"

"Yes sir." Mac told the senator and pointed to the door, "Let's go to my office so we can talk."

"I don't want to leave my daughter alone." The senator reached out to lay his hand on his daughter's arm where it lay beneath the sheet.

"Senator, Dr. Hawkes is preparing to complete his post exam. Don't you think your daughter should have some privacy?"

District Attorney Sam Hollings stepped next to Senator Cohen and said, "Senator, I think we would all be more comfortable in Detective Taylor's office. This discussion is going to take a while and Dr. Hawkes is working in here."

The senator looked at Mac then the DA then to Dr. Hawkes and said, "Dr. Hawkes, please see that my daughter is treated with the utmost care and dignity."

"I will sir." Hawkes replied and watched as the group filed out of his morgue.

Mac showed the Senator and District Attorney into his office and closed the door leaving the rest of the entourage outside to wait.

Senator Cohen walked around behind Mac's desk stopping to look at the shadow box on the wall with Mac's Marine Corps Medals inside. "You were a Marine?"

"Yes, sir, I am." Mac sat down at his desk and waited for the other man to take a seat across from him next to DA Hollings who had immediately taken a seat in one of the chairs in front of Mac's desk.

"Good." The senator turned and looked down at Mac, "I want to be certain that my daughter's murderer is brought to justice without having to worry that the investigation might be compromised because the suspect is one of their own."

"Senator Cohen, you can rest assured that this investigation will be handled with the same integrity that we would handle any investigation." Mac bristled at the implications behind the senator's statement. "My team would never comprise an investigation just because they wanted to clear someone on their team's name."

"Can I take that to mean that you don't believe Officer Messer is the person who took my daughter's life?" The senator walked slowly back to the front of the office and looked out at the labs surrounding the hallway and the office they were inside.

"Senator, sir, I can not discuss the investigation. It's in the beginning stages and there is nothing conclusive that points to any one suspect in particular." Mac stood up to meet the senator eye to eye.

"Do I need to request someone else be put in charge of this investigation?" The senator was standing close to the front of Mac's desk.

Mac stood a bit straighter and DA Hollings stood to halt this conversation, "Senator, I don't think that will be necessary. Detective Taylor and his team will conduct themselves in a professional manner indicative of the NYPD."

"Very well." The senator backed away from the desk and stood up straighter, "I just don't want my daughter's murderer to go free simply because he does work for the NYPD."

Mac walked around the desk and stopped close to the senator, "In this office, senator, a person is innocent until proven guilty. Can you please excuse me, I have an investigation to conduct?"

DA Hollings spoke from his position behind the senator, "Senator Cohen, let me show you out a side door so the press doesn't harass you with unnecessary questions."

The senator was still bristled that Mac Taylor was a close personal friend with Danny Messer. He was thinking of several people to call favors on to see if he could get the investigation turned over to another agency when DA Hollings finally got his attention. He nodded and followed the District Attorney out of Mac's office without another word to Mac.


	7. Chapter 7

An hour later, Mac joined Stella back at the crime scene where she was doing some further investigative work on the scene. He walked in and reached into his pocket pulling out a pair of latex gloves. He pulled the gloves on before he walked into the bedroom where Stella had all the lights off and was blue lighting the entire room.

"Whoa, someone was feeling the love!" He spoke in an even monotone as he watched Stella take a marker from her jacket pocket and mark several places on the white sheet.

While she worked, Stella replied, "Yeah and Danny wasn't the only one giving donations."

"You're kidding. More than one male donor?" Mac asked astonished that Danny might be more promiscuous than he had once thought.

"Yeah, one female, three males." Stella turned the blue light off and nodded for Mac to turn the overhead light on. "Has Dr. Hawkes finished his post yet?"

"No, he was going to be very thorough. No rush, no mistakes." Mac answered his mind working over a theory. "You think whoever drugged Danny may have raped Andrea in here before killing her in the other room?"

"I'm thinking it's possible." She grunted as she leaned down and put the ALS light in her kit on the floor by the bed. "There were at least two of them. We already know she had been with Danny at some point so we can rule his contribution out and we know, last night that he was drugged in the living room. Then she was forced into the bedroom…" She stopped to process the scene in her mind as Mac continued her theory..

"If there were force then there'd be a sign of struggle. Danny said he didn't touch anything at all when he realized Andrea was dead. He just called it in. Maybe he moved some items before he realized what was going on?"

"The doctor called with the results of Danny's tox screen. The levels of Rohypnol and GHB in his system were three times the normal dosage of either drug alone." Stella reported her earlier conversation with the doctor.

"Were they trying to kill him?" Mac asked his tone incredulous.

"I'll bag these sheets and get back to the lab." She began pulling the sheets from the bed. "I want to see if the unknowns on here are in CODIS."

"Good, I'm going to talk to the sister." Mac told her as he headed out of the room then he stopped and looked back at her, "Meet you at Danny's room later."

"You got it." She grinned. Glad to see that Mac was beginning to open up and show his human side again. After 9-11, it had been a long time for the healing process to begin for everyone but especially those like Mac who had lost someone close to him or her and it warmed Stella's heart to see him finally showing some emotion.

Mac had never liked the part of the job where he had to interview relatives of a victim. The task seemed especially tough in this case since his team's every move was being scrutinized by the media, internal affairs and the senator. He squared his shoulders and stepped out of his NYPD issued silver GMC Envoy and walked inside the apartment building on the Upper East Side of the city.

He told the young woman at the reception desk who he needed to see and he was escorted to an elevator and shown to the penthouse apartment.

The elevator opened to a foyer with sparkling white tiles and a large pearlescent chandelier hanging above. To the left was an arched doorway. Inside he could see a sofa and all the accents of a very rich household. To his right was a staircase that lead up to what he assumed were the sleeping quarters. He was there only a moment before a short dark haired woman of Middle Eastern decent met him. She bowed her head for a moment then said, "Please accompany me to the sitting room. Mrs. Cohen will join you shortly."

Mac nodded and followed the woman the short distance through the arched doorway to the left off the foyer and stood silently. While he waited he made a cursory inspection of the immaculately furnished room. There was a large fireplace on the wall directly to his left and the framed photos there drew him.

The photos were of the senator, his wife and their two daughters. There were several of the girls separately as well as together. One that caught his eye was of Andrea and Danny on a boat laughing with the wind in their hair. This was a side of Danny that Mac had never seen. His subordinates were just that subordinates. He rarely got close enough to get to know any of them. Stella was the one exception.

From the looks of the picture, Danny was not at all the man Mac had thought him to be especially considering the tryst that Danny had had with the Tanglewood Boys.

"Detective? I'm Sara Cohen." Mac turned to see the senator's wife standing in the arched doorway wearing a long silk robe. She looked as though she had been sleeping. "What can I do for you?"

"Mrs. Cohen, I'm Detective Mac Taylor. I was hoping to speak with your daughter." Mac asked softly.

"I'm very sorry Detective but my daughter has been sedated. She is very distraught over her sister's death." Mac noted that this woman was showing very little emotion and wondered just how many antidepressants her doctor had given her when the younger Cohen daughter had been sedated.

"No, Mrs. Cohen, I'm very sorry to have to disturb you." He paused then continued, "But could I ask you a few questions?"

She took a seat and motioned for him to do the same which he did and removed a notepad and pen. He looked up and asked, "Is there anything that you can tell me about the party last night that might have seemed out of the ordinary?"

It was a moment before she spoke and Mac waited patiently, pen poised and ready to write. Her words were soft and hesitant, "The party began at seven. Kerri and Brady, her date were there on time…. All the guests were already there except Andrea and Danny..uh Officer Messer."

"Danny is fine Ma'am." Mac interjected.

"Yes well, Andrea had waited for Danny to finish whatever he was working on so they could arrive together. They make..made a great couple. Complimented each other. Andrea has been happier in the last couple of years then I can remember. She always looked forward to coming home now and I know it was because of him." Her voice trailed off as she wiped tears from her face; the first visible signs of emotion Mac had seen from her since he had arrived. "Detective Taylor, is Danny responsible for my daughter's death?"

"Only the evidence can tell us, Ma'am." She nodded in understanding and watched as he excused himself with a quiet thank you for her time and condolences for her lose.


	8. Chapter 8

Danny had been sleeping for ten hours and when he awoke it was with a start immediately alerting a sleeping Aiden who had taken the night watch over her friend so that Flack could do some footwork on the case. She was at Danny's side in an instant fussing over him. He batted her hands away and said, "Aiden, what the he..? Where am I?"

"Well grumpy," She smiled down at him, "You're still in the hospital."

He reached to flip the covers off his lower body and she pushed the covers back into place, "Hold on there buddy, I don't want to see what's not covered under there."

He leered at her and pushed his hand through his hair not helping the already sleep ruffled blonde waves. "Cute, very cute."

She smiled and pulled her chair closer and sat down to watch him again. He had slept for the entire time she had been there but he had not slept peacefully. Her thoughts had wandered to what he might be dreaming about. She had not yet wavered in her belief that he was innocent and his restlessness was solidifying that belief more and more.

"When can I leave this place, Aiden?" He asked in a gruff tone.

"The doctor told Stella that you could leave when your headache was gone."

He rose up and said, "It's gone." She chuckled at the look on his face as he said those words. It was a cross between nausea and sheer torture. He slowly lay back on the bed and covered his eyes with his hand, "Okay, so it's not completely gone. I just sat up too fast."

"Danny, you got a pretty heavy dose of Rohypnol and GHB. It's gonna take a couple of days to get over it."

He dropped his hand from his eyes and slowly opened them to look at her, "The date rape drugs?" His astonished question was left unanswered as the door opened to reveal Stella and Mac.

"Danny, you're awake!" Stella smiled happy that he was finally awake. She had been in earlier to sit with him while he was still out completely.

He nodded careful not to move his head too much as it was beginning to ache again and he didn't want them to know it. He was ready to get out of the hospital and get to work on the case.

Mac and Stella found chairs and got comfortable. They had come to visit their co-worker but also to take his statement and see what they could piece together of the last few hours of Andrea's life. Danny watched Mac pull his notepad from his jacket pocket and take his pen from his shirt pocket.

"Guys, when I get out of here I want to help with this?" Danny knew what Mac was going to say but he had to ask.

"Danny," Mac began in a reprimanding tone then hesitated before changing his tone and continuing, "You are going to have to be on the sidelines for this."

"But I…" Danny started only to be stopped by a shake of Mac's head.

"You know how this has to work." Mac tried to appease Danny with a comforting tone.

"Mac, this is screaming setup." Aiden weighed in from where she had taken a seat on the end of Danny's hospital bed.

"Yes, it does and we have to show our proof beyond a reasonable doubt or else Senator Cohen will have the entire department as well as Danny in the electric chair."

"That son-of-a-bitch!" Danny exclaimed, "He always hated that Andrea wouldn't date who he wanted her to."

"Just who did he want her to date?" Stella asked bristling a bit that the senator would think Danny less than perfect for his daughter.

Danny grunted then said, "Sonny Sassone. New York's favorite Senator is just a Tanglewood Boy at heart."

Aiden whistled under her breath as Mac took notes and Stella shook her head in disbelief.

"Do you know that for a fact, Danny?" Mac asked as he continued to write.

"I'm sure he would rather someone tell that he is gay than to let his constituents know he's one of the original members of the Tanglewood Boys." Danny fiddled with the covers at his waist as the group processed his information.

Stella's beeper went off and she flipped the LCD over into view and said, "It's my DNA results." She grabbed the phone next to Danny's bed and dialed the lab number.

The only sound in the room was Stella's end of the phone conversation. She talked only long enough to get the information she needed and then ended the conversation.

She laid the receiver in the cradle then looked down at Danny knowing her information was going to hurt him immensely. She took her time making her way back to her seat then sat quietly processing the information she had just been given.

Her train of thought was interrupted by Mac's soft question, "Was that the DNA from the sheet?"

She nodded but was unable to speak as Danny began firing questions, "Sheets? You had my sheets checked for DNA? Why would there be anyone's DNA on my sheets but mine and of course Andrea's? I know you all think I'm into the kinky stuff but I'm not. Andrea's the only woman I've been with in two years."

"Relax, Danny." Stella patted his shoulder to calm him. "I tested the sheet on a hunch which Dr. Hawkes has confirmed and the results on the sheet confirm."

"What?" He asked gruffly.

"Andrea was raped before she was murdered." She told him and watched as he realized what she was saying.

"Raped?" His voice was low. "Stella there would have been signs of sexual activity in a kit. Andrea and I had consensual sex before we went to the party."

"So that's why you two were late arriving at the party?" Mac asked working to put the pieces together in his mind of how the night would have progressed.

Danny nodded then said, "Her mother was upset that we were late so I told her it was my fault that I had to work over on a case."

His three friends looked at him and he shrugged his shoulders, an innocent look on his face, "We hadn't seen each other in weeks."

"It's okay Danny." Aiden patted his leg beneath the covers next to where she sat on his bed. "Nobody's blaming you." Aiden leveled a hard stare on Stella.

Stella could feel the heat from Aiden's stare, "No, Danny. I have proof that you and Andrea weren't alone in your apartment. There were at least three others in the apartment. Three men. Two hit in CODIS. Jimmy Booker and Sonny Sassone."

Danny's anger was instant as he tossed the covers off his legs and swung his feet down to the floor. Aiden was closet so she was able to steady him when the force of his exertion caused him to lean her way. She helped him lay back down and Stella pulled the covers over his legs.

"Guys, dammit, I have to be there when you bring that bastard in." Danny pressed his hand to his forehead willing the pain to subside but not having any luck. The struggle to keep the pain at bay was warring with his will to find Andrea's killer. His anger turned to tears as he pounded the bed beside him with his free hand. "Dammit! Dammit! Dammit! Why would they kill her?"

Mac laid his hand on Danny's shoulder to gain his attention, "Danny, I know you're angry but making your condition worse will not get you out of here and back to the lab any sooner. You have to pull yourself together. We need to go through what happened last night and you're our best witness but you're no good to us if you're sedated and stuck in this room." His words got to Danny and Mac could tell the moment he began to calm. The tense feeling in Danny's shoulders began to lessen.

"How's your head?" Aiden asked as she brushed her hand across Danny's forehead.

He slowly opened his tear-filled eyes, "Better."

"Do you think you can take us through your date last night, Danny?" Mac asked softly.

He wanted to but before he could speak the pain and nausea from the drugs overtook him. Stella and Aiden helped him sit and held the garbage can for him while Mac rushed out to the nurse's station and brought help. By the time Danny had been taken care of he was asleep again.


	9. Chapter 9

The sunrise coming through the blinds hit Stella in the face and she jerked awake. Mac had been awake for a while and caught her before she slipped off the hospital chair. She opened her eyes and smiled at him issuing a quiet thank you. They both looked to the bed that had been pushed against the wall in the middle of the night to accommodate the amount of extra visitors holding vigil over Danny. It was a sweet sight indeed to see Danny sleeping peacefully while Aiden was propped against the foot of the bed and the wall behind her sleeping just as peacefully. Then in the other chair with his feet propped on the bed next to Aiden's legs and Danny's feet, Flack was sleeping. The chair had been tilted so that his head was propped against the wall and his mouth was open. Stella and Mac both silently wished they had a camera for the perfect black mail shot.

Mac looked at his watch and nodded toward the door and he and Stella quietly eased their way out of the room.

Noon that day finally brought the entire team back together with Aiden and Flack brining Danny into the lab from the hospital. They met Stella and Mac in the lab where they were reprocessing the evidence.

"So, Danny, are you ready to help us out?" Mac asked as Danny slowly made his way to a chair. His face was pale and gaunt. It was obvious that he was still feeling the effects of the Rohypnol and the GHB plus he was full of pain medication.

"I'm ready." Danny breathed a sigh of relief when he was finally resting in the only desk chair in the room. The rest of the team found seats on stools at the lighted tables in the room.

"Okay, take us through the events of two nights ago." Mac told Danny as Stella set up a tape recorder and hit the record button. They all waited patiently as Danny got comfortable and began to tell them what he remembered.

It was an hour and three full audiotapes later when Danny finished he statement. They contained very little useful information. Danny had been unable to remember anything past the drink he had shared with Andrea.

His statement was really just routine, as they already knew whom their killer was they just needed to bring him in and get him to talk.

Flack's cell phone rang and he excused himself from the room to take the call. He returned moments later with news. "Okay, you won't believe who's in the interrogation room wanting to talk."

"Who?" They all chimed in unison.

"Kerri Cohen."

"Kerri?" Danny was on his feet and heading for the door when Mac stopped him.

"Danny, you cannot jeopardize this investigation." Mac told him gruffly.

"Mac, let me watch from the other side of the glass." Danny pleaded.

"Okay." Mac conceded to let Danny observe from the exterior room beside the interrogation room.

Aiden and Stella accompanied Danny to the observation room while Mac and Flack walked down the hall to enter the interrogation room. Senator Cohen stopped them outside the room. "I want to be present while you're questioning my daughter."

"Sir," Mac began then paused and looked around at Flack then back to the senator, "We can't let you in the room but you can watch from the observation room."

"Her lawyer should be present." Cohen nodded toward his attorney who was walking quickly down the hall.

Mac nodded and opened the door to the observation room where Cohen stopped abruptly and bellowed, "What the hell is he doing here?"

Danny looked around when he heard Cohen howl. His first instinct was to argue with the senator but a supporting hand on his shoulder and another on his forearm from Stella and Aiden gave him the strength he needed to be diplomatic. He stepped closer to the senator and looked the man in the eyes, "Senator Cohen, I know you never approved of me as a companion for Andrea but, sir, I can tell you that I have never felt for another woman the way I felt for Andrea. She was possibly my one true love. I am sincerely sorry for your loss and I can assure you that my loss is running a very close second to yours."

Cohen stood there silently contemplating Danny's words for a few long moments. His wife stepped close behind the senator and touched his arm, "John, I think its time we let Daniel be. He has lost as much as we have if not more. Our daughter loved him, she told me so."

She nodded to Danny and he tipped his head forward then turned to rejoin Stella and Aiden. The senator and his wife soon joined them as Mac and Flack entered the interrogation room. Kerri's lawyer had already joined her in the room.

Mac took a seat at the table as Flack set up a tape recorder then pressed the record button and spoke definitively, "This is the interrogation of Kerri Cohen, I am Detective Don Flack and joining me for this interrogation is CSI Supervisor Mac Taylor. Also joining us are Kerri Cohen and," he paused to look at the business card the lawyer had given him while Mac was smoothing things out with the senator. He checked the card and continued, "We are also joined by Ms. Cohen's attorney, Bradford Henson. Ms. Cohen, will you please state your full name and address for the record?"

Flack took the seat near Mac and waited as she cleared her throat, "My..my name is Carrington Deaton Cohen. I..I ..I live at 1468 92nd street, in the penthouse apartment."

Henson then spoke, "I want to make one thing clear. My client will only answer questions and make a statement after she is guaranteed immunity from prosecution."

"We are not authorized to offer your client a deal of any kind." Mac spoke with an even authoritative tone. "Your client will have to give us something to take to the DA."

A knock on the door brought the meeting to a pause as the door opened and District Attorney Hollings entered. "Gentlemen, Ms. Cohen, I am prepared to offer Ms. Cohen immunity from prosecution if she will deliver to me evidence which will produce the entire Tanglewood gang network for prosecution."

Henson and Cohen whispered for a moment while Mac, Flack and Hollings watched and waited. Henson looked up and said, "She's prepared to give you what you request. We in turn want it in writing that Ms. Cohen will not be required to serve any jail time for any crime that she may have committed in conjunction with the homicide that occurred two nights ago in Officer Danny Messer's apartment."

Hollings nodded and pulled a typed form from this briefcase that had already been created before he arrived. Stella and Aiden looked at Danny and knew the moment he put the pieces together for the deal that was being made inside the interrogation room. Mac and Flack were powerless to do anything but watch as Kerri Cohen signed the paper put before her by DA Hollings.

After she had signed the paper stating that she would receive no jail time, her attorney removed a piece of paper from his briefcase and began to read, "I, Carrington Deaton Cohen, do hereby swear that the statement I am about to give is true to the best of my abilities. I was forced to allow Sonny Sassone, Jimmy Booker and Harry Roane access to my sister's apartment. They told me if I didn't help them gain access to Andrea's apartment they would expose my dad as a former member of the Tanglewood Gang and have him impeached from the senate. I was completely unaware of their plan to destroy Officer Messer or kill my sister. Had I have known my sister was to be a victim I would have likely found a way out of the situation, which kept her alive. I swear that I had no intentions of causing harm to any one most especially my sister. I was assured that if I cooperated with them the only person hurt in this would be Officer Messer. To the best of my knowledge the entire set up was to enact revenge of Officer Messer for actions he committed against the Tanglewood Boys. Signed Carrington Deaton Cohen, March 6th, 2005 and witnessed by Bradford Henson, Attorney at Law and Sylvia Jacobs, Notary Public."

A month later Danny was welcomed back to work and reassigned to work with Aiden. Mac had to remove him from the promotions list but as long as he was working again he didn't care in the least about being on the promotions list.

The End


End file.
